1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to scheduling techniques. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present invention is directed to a scheduling system and method for a switching element operable with data bursts.
2. Description of Related Art
Scheduling is well-known as a resolution mechanism among a plurality of units contending for a common resource. For example, servers associated with input and output ports of a network element must first compete in order to establish appropriate traffic paths across a switching fabric before data can be transported between a selected input port and an output port. Since arbitration times can take a significant portion of a scheduling process, it is desirable to implement an efficient scheme where high throughput rates are required. Further, where available buffer space is limited or none at all, packet loss due to port congestion should be minimized as much as possible, especially where high quality services are to be provisioned. These concerns assume particular significance where data is aggregated at the input side of a switching system as a plurality of data bursts, or where scheduling functionality is distributed in disjoint entities (i.e., multi-level scheduling).